Customer Reviews

Brandenburg 1-6 Baumgartner

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't think I have heard any performances more beautiful than this. I have no objections to the tempos, either. One possible weakness is how the soloists don't stand out in the sound-image; the soloists merge into the whole in this velvety production. It is very beautiful and elegant, but you might miss some excitement here. It works perfectly as background music, when you for example have invited somebody for a nice dinner; imagine the candlelight and the fireplace... But sometimes I prefer Leppard to Baumgartner on the Brandenburgs, more fresh and still reasonably elegant.
On sheer beauty nobody compares to Baumgartner and another wonderful thing about this 3CDs to a nice price tag is that the Orchestral Suites are included, and these seem to benefit even more of the treatment Baumgartner and his Festival Strings Lucerne give.
Some more nice Brandenburgs:
The Leppard-Brandenburgs, Amazon-search: B00009P1PH (No. 1, 2 & 3) and B00009P1PI (No. 4, 5 & 6)
The Hogwood-Brandenburgs & some more concertos, Amazon-search: B0000042HK
The Savall-Brandenburgs, Amazon-search: B00004TVFR

I've been listening to Brandenburgs non-stop for the past three weeks, for some reason. I love the Ristenpart recording, and I like the Britten version even better in some ways. This Baumgartner recording has a certain elegance. The pace is a tad slower and the ambience a bit thicker. The second movement of the first Brandenburg hits that emotional place a bit better than in the Britten version. I would be hard pressed to say which I prefer overall, but on first listening I sure loved this recording.